TiMER
by theeflowerchild
Summary: Soulmates AU. They'll figure this out, they have to; they're soulmates. And even though Sasuke knows he has no control over who his soulmate is, he's still the adult, and he'll still protect his best friend's thirteen-year-old sister that just so happens to be the person he'll spend the rest of his life with.
1. thirteen nineteen

**TiMER**

theeflowerchild

chapter one

* * *

Sakura has never been so excited in her life. She's here. This is it. She's made it.

Thirteen.

Her grin stretches from ear to ear, pearly white and a little crooked. She curled her pink hair, and her brother helped her get the back of her head. She picked out the prettiest blue dress her and her mother could find at the store. Her mom let her borrow a little bit of lipstick, even if it made her father frown. She feels pretty; she feels _older. _

Sakura squirms in her seat in the middle of the couch. "This will sting a little," her mother says, but Sakura doesn't care. Her mother takes out what looks like a nail gun and aligns it perfectly with her daughter's left wrist.

"Don't count down," Sakura says.

"Alright," her mother agrees, and before Sakura can get nervous, the outside of her wrist is stinging painfully and her eyes are watering.

"That's it?" Sakura asks.

"That's it," her mother replies.

"How long does it take to turn on?" she asks, staring at the little clock imbedded in her wrist. It's blue, and small, and there are blinking zeros where a countdown should be. It actually matches her dress, she thinks fondly.

"Mine took a few seconds," her brother interjects. He flashes his own timer. "If your soulmate has theirs in already, yours should light up soon."

Like clockwork, Sakura hears a small '_ping!' _from the device on her wrist. Naruto is right; it only takes a few moments for her timer to light brightly with its countdown.

"So?" her mother asks with a curious smile and lifted brows. "What does it say?"

Sakura stares at the device on her wrist and thinks she must be reading it incorrectly. Her eyebrows knit in confusion and she purses her lips, careful not to smudge her lipstick on her teeth.

"Earth to Sakura," Naruto teases. "Anybody in there?"

"Um," she stammers, pretty green eyes wide with confusion. "I think it says… a minute and a half."

Her father blubbers from the corner, the first thing he's said all night. "What?! That's not possible. Tsunade, read it."

Her mother quickly swipes her wrist into her lap, not without a snappy glare toward her father. She examines the device closely, a little too close for comfort, before her own eyes widen. "Dear, she's right."

Naruto swats his mother out of the way, and takes Sakura's wrist in her hand with enough force that she hisses. "What the hell—"

"_Language—"_

"I have to I wait five years, and Sakura gets hers in 90 seconds?" he snaps with a frown.

"Don't be like that," Sakura says with a grimace. "It's not like I could have done this on purpose."

"You're right," he sighs, and releases her wrist. "Can't imagine what the bastard will say when he sees this. His hasn't even lit up, and—"

Naruto freezes.

Jiraiya finally stands, with a deep frown on his face and his brown eyes darker than ever. "That _damn_ Uchiha."

* * *

Sasuke is nearly to Naruto's house when he hears a soft '_ping!'_ come from his pocket. He digs his hands out of his jacket, reaches for his phone, and frowns when he finds no notifications.

With a drawn sigh, he runs his hand through his messy hair. He's not sure how he got wrapped into celebrating Sakura's thirteenth birthday, but he'll do anything Naruto asks him to, though he'd never admit that to _him. _That includes celebrating his adopted sister's special day, and he knows as well as anybody else that thirteen is an important year. He seemed to think it was six years ago.

That was, until Sasuke's timer never lit up. Seven years later, and he goes to bed every night staring at a series of zeros that mean nothing on his wrist, and wakes up to the same zeros that haunt him in his sleep.

Sasuke reaches to knock with a deep frown. He'll put on a happy face. Just because he's miserable and soulmate-less, doesn't mean other people have to be.

That's when Sasuke sees his wrist.

His eyes widen an impossible amount. He brings the timer as close to his face as possible, and scrutinizes the countdown: fifty-nine seconds, then fifty-eight, then fifty-seven—

"Oh, oh no, oh _god," _he nearly yells when realization dawns on him, taking a staggering step back from the door. He nearly falls over nothing.

It never occurs to him that the timer, of course, accounts for his blubbering foolishness. It accounts for him stumbling back down his best friends driveway, only to approach again to see if the timer changes. It accounts for Sasuke finally deciding to knock when it shines '_00:00:00:30.56.' _It accounts for Naruto answering the door with a disgusted frown on his face. It accounts for Sasuke rushing past him into the kitchen, a cake with Sakura's name written in pretty pink and the number thirteen on the table likely forgotten. It accounts for him looking frantically around the room, and it accounts for him spotting Sakura on the couch, confused tears in her eyes and hair curled perfectly.

Sasuke is vaguely aware of alarms going off, but all he can see is Sakura looking right through him. His device on his wrist is reading '_congratulations!'_ but Sasuke isn't sure if this is a celebration anymore.

"Oh, Sasuke," Tsunade whispers, more empathetic than he feels like he deserves at his moment.

Sakura is swallowing, loudly, and then she starts laughing when instead Sasuke was sure she would cry. Everybody is looking at her now, like she sprouted three heads. It's nice to have the attention off of him for a moment. When Sakura continues to laugh, Sasuke feels his heart beat a little too fast, and suddenly he wants to hit himself for not noticing what was right in front of him this whole time.

Then Naruto is behind him. Then Naruto is touching his shoulders. Then Naruto's _wrists_ are around his _throat._

"Naruto!" Tsunade shouts.

Jiraiya howls with laughter. "'Atta boy!"

Sakura springs to her feet, and pushes Naruto off of him with more force than necessary. Sasuke knows this isn't his fault, he has no control of this situation. He doesn't decide who his soulmate is; he doesn't govern the timers. Still, he feels guilty. He feels like he deserves Naruto wringing his neck.

"You bastard!" Naruto yells. "That's my sister!"

"It's not his fault, Naruto," his mother reprimands. Tsunade puts herself between the boys, while Sakura takes an enormous step back. She looks like she's going to cry, and somehow, Sasuke _feels _it.

"Wait—" he says, before he can stop himself, but Sakura is turning on her heel.

"I'm going to my room," she announces, and Sasuke can't see her face, but he knows she's crying. And he knows it _hurts. _

Sasuke isn't able to stop himself when he follows after her. He hears Naruto call after him, and then Tsunade say, "let him go." He owes that woman a fruit basket.

Sasuke knows this house as well as he knows his own. He knows the sound of Sakura's footsteps storming up the whining stars, and the sound of the door slamming shut. He even knows the sound of her crying all too well.

Sasuke doesn't knock. He doesn't even think to. He's at Sakura's side with two, long strides, and he kneels between her legs while she sits on her bed, head in her hands. He's sure of Naruto saw them like this, his neck would be in another well-deserved choke hold.

Softly, he says, "hey."

"Hi," she chokes out, and moves her hand. Her grassy green eyes are rimmed red, and her cheeks her puffy from crying. She looks so young. She has freckles, and long eyelashes, and pouty lips. She's only thirteen, and now she's bound to Sasuke for the rest of her life.

"You're taking this very well," he says, and that makes Sakura laugh. His chest tightens with every strained giggle.

"Not as well as you," she replies, and he smiles. At least she's teasing him. She reaches out, and touches his face, and he pulls back sharply. When he sees her fingers, they're wet, and that's when Sasuke realizes he's crying too.

He pushes his palms against his eyes a little too harshly. "Sorry," he mumbles, and if his cheeks aren't already red from crying, they're certainly red from embarrassment. "I'm the adult. I shouldn't be crying."

"It's okay," she says, in the soft and kind way only Sakura can, moody in only the way a teenager can be. Storming away in a fit of anger and tears one moment, and comforting him and caressing his face another.

It's quiet for a moment before Sakura speaks again. "You are an adult," she says.

He smiles sadly. "I'm sorry." He knows almost immediately that this is even more unfair to her than this is to him. He's known Sakura since she was three, and she walked into Naruto's kitchen, bony and skinny and a little bruised. He's watched Sakura grow up. Sakura has met his family, and his little girlfriends, and has seen what he looks like in the morning after sleepovers with her brother.

They are in such different places in their lives. It's unfair for Sakura to have to have a soulmate seven years her senior. If he thought it was unfair for him to have to wait, it's even more unfair for her to have someone she can't grow with. Sasuke has already been through enough to make him a whole person. Sakura's life hasn't even begun.

"We'll figure it out," he says, finally. He stands, because he is the adult. He has to be strong for her until he knows what else he can be. He offers her his hand, and she takes it. They'll have to figure it out. They're soulmates. "Until then, let's celebrate your birthday. There's dinner and cake. I even have a present for you," he says.

"You do?" she asks, and he sees the tears stop. She's blushing as pink as her hair now.

It's a dumb gift. It's a lame gift to give your soulmate. It's a book he told her about months ago, that he wrote down and remembered and picked up only yesterday. He reaches into his inside jacket pocket and hands it to her, poorly wrapped and offensively tied with a mangled bow.

He lets go of her hand and he motions her to follow him. In the hallway, she asks him, "are we friends?"

Sasuke nods. That's what they'll be for now: friends. Sasuke needs a romantic relationship with a thirteen-year-old like he needs a hole in the head, whether or not exceptions are made for soulmates, but he's already friends with Sakura. He'll continue to be friends with Sakura. Nothing will change, yet. Perhaps he'll get to know her more. Maybe she'll go to more of his hockey games. He'll go to her school functions, and she'll tag along when Naruto and him go on excursions. They'll be friends. At some point, he thinks, he never had a choice in the matter anyway.


	2. thirteen twenty

**TiMER**  
theeflowerchild

chapter two

* * *

Sasuke's birthday falls on the hottest, most dreadful day of year yet. He wakes up twenty with his bangs caked to his face and his undershirt soaked through. He scrubs stinging, pink shoulders in a lukewarm shower and dresses himself in his swim trunks and a tank top. He nearly turns away his mother's hot, sticky pancakes for ice cubes.

"So," she starts, with a smile on her face and another hotcake on her spatula. "What are you and Naruto doing today?"

Sasuke finds the pancakes edible as long as he's sitting in front of the fan. He'll have to convince his mother to have another talk with his father about how the electric bill won't matter anyway if they die of heatstroke. He shrugs. "Beach, maybe."

"Will you bring Sakura?" she asks.

His swallow is nearly audible. "If she'd like to."

"Why wouldn't she?" his mother asks. "She's your soulmate."

"She's thirteen," he insists with a frown. "She probably has nails to paint, or sleepovers, or—"

"Or maybe she wants to spend time with her soulmate," she insists. She sits across from her son at the kitchen table and steals a pancake off of his plate. Sasuke feigns annoyance, but he's glad he won't have to power through any more heat than necessary. "And you still haven't had her over for dinner."

He rolls his eyes. "She has other things to do, like _her homework."_

"I'm well aware." She takes a large bite, chewing carefully. "I hope she's more fun than you were in middle school."

He snorts.

"Or at least more fun than you're being right now," she finishes with a teasing smile. "Take her to the beach, teach her how to swim," she rattles off. "Buy her some damn ice cream."

"Maybe," he says. "Thanks for the pancakes."

"My pleasure, birthday boy." She gathers his plate with a wink. "One day, Sakura will be making these for you—"

He cuts her off with maybe the loudest groan he's ever made.

* * *

Naruto picks him up in his obnoxious, orange SUV with a shit-eating grin on his face and a six pack in the passenger seat. Sasuke places it carefully on the floor with a smirk before turning around to welcome the newest addition to his birthday traditions.

Sakura greets him with a pretty smile and a wave, hair pulled back in a neat braid. Her impossibly green one-piece and her impossibly long bermuda-shorts make her look _impossibly_ young and it nearly makes him laugh. "Happy birthday, Sasuke!"

"Thanks, Sakura," he says with a nod. "And thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting me!" she replies with a winning grin.

Naruto pulls onto the highway, mumbling something about having to share his best friend, and they ride with the windows down until they smell the salt and hot dirt deep in their nostrils. Sakura looks at the ocean like it's the most beautiful thing in the world, round sunglasses perched on her little nose, bangs flying in her face as they cross the bridge. When they finally get to the lot, she makes sure they're sitting as close to the tide as possible. She tells Sasuke that she hopes it gets so high that it touches their toes.

When she puts sunscreen on her shoulders, he sees the scar on the outside of her wrist where her timer used to be. They'd both had them removed less than a week after her thirteenth birthday. He looks at his, an angry red on his impossibly white skin. What could be something as insignificant as a cut binds him to the girl next to him for the rest of his life.

When she notices him staring at the perfectly straight, short line on his wrist, she says, "It seems almost silly to have gotten it in the first place, just to have it removed a few days later."

He almost tells her it wasn't a few days for him. Sasuke watched his timer for nearly seven years: ugly, blue zeroes flashed at him patronizingly, haunted his every thought. He nearly believed he'd be alone forever. Now he bares a scar like his parents, like her parents, like couples he sees sitting around them on the beach. It doesn't go over his head that this little line links him to the woman he'll one day marry.

Instead, he reminds her, "It was worth it," which earns him a pretty pink blush that makes her look all the more childish.

Sasuke learns that Sakura already knows how to swim, but this doesn't surprise him with how enamored she is with the water. She floats, and sinks, and jumps on Naruto's back. She splashes Sasuke, so he dunks her and flips her until she's giggling, braids falling apart. Naruto watches him all too carefully, so Sasuke dunks him, too. They drift until their cheeks and shoulders are painfully hot. They hide under their umbrella just to run back into the water again.

Since he can't teach her to swim, he buys her ice cream instead.

Sakura eats vanilla with rainbow sprinkles in a cup and Sasuke finishes his beer. It still manages to make her hands sticky, so before he knows it she's running right back into the water again, Naruto trailing after her. When they're all done, they wrap themselves in fluffy, sandy towels and pack up.

It's a short car ride home with a bad playlist Naruto chooses. Then sun makes him tired, but the prospect of his birthday makes him childishly excited. Finally, he turns and asks, "Want to stay for dinner, Sakura?"

She looks terminally exhausted. Her cheeks are as flushed as her hair is pink, which is down in a curly, mangled mess. She smiles at him with lazy eyes, swimming in her brother's orange t shirt, and tells him, "Sure, I'd love that."

"Really?" Naruto sighs, but Sasuke shoves him a little less than gently and he doesn't say another word.

* * *

His mother is thrilled to say the least.

"Sakura!" she cheers, wrapping the girl in a giant hug. He sees Sakura wince and knows it's her sunburn.

He brushes his mother away. "She's burnt."

"I'm sorry, dear," she says, winking at her son. "So protective, Sasuke!"

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, how chivalrous of me to not want to see anybody in pain."

Sasuke knows exactly why his mother is teasing him. He's heard it time and time again that soulmates have a sense when it comes to their partner: when one half is upset, overjoyed, in pain, or anything in between, the other half can feel it. A kind of empathy you can't pass on as kindness. He knows the sunburn hurts because he can _feel_ it, and it's a sensation he's been having trouble dealing with since he first saw her cry. He knows when Sakura is under duress. If he's being protective, he can't help it.

Sakura laughs them both off. "It's fine," she says. "Thank you for having me, Mrs. Uchiha."

"Mikoto, please," she insists. "You can come here anytime."

Sasuke is painfully aware of how obvious his mother is being, but he smooths past her, anyway. "Itachi's out back?" he asks.

"Of course." His mother clasps her hands together. "Go enjoy the pool! It's beautiful out."

She's right about that, at least. The hot summer sun is now a dim halo over the mountain peaks, the sky a warm painting of purples, and pinks, and yellows. He can walk on his deck barefoot without the heat licking the bottom of his feet. Itachi is by the grill in jeans and a t-shirt, hair pulled back and enjoying the lukewarm summer night. Sasuke greets him with a clap on his shoulder. "Hey, man."

"Sasuke," he greets with a small smile, ruffling his hair much to his chagrin. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," he says, only to be interrupted by the loud splash of his best friend catapulting himself into the pool. "Naruto says hi, I'm sure."

"I'll get him later," he quips with a raised eyebrow, before turning back to the grill. "Is she here?" he asks, casually.

Sasuke knows it's anything but casual. "Yeah, she's still talking to Mom."

"Can't believe you'd leave her alone with her," he says,

"Neither can I," he agrees with a small grin. "It's just Sakura," he adds.

"She's not _just_ anything," he reminds him. "Not anymore, anyway."

Sasuke shrugs, but he knows the tips of his ears are pink—luckily, not any pinker than his sunburn. "You know what I meant."

Sakura trails in a few moments later with his mother's arm around her shoulders, and Sasuke knows without even having to look at them that his soulmate is, justifiably, overwhelmed. So, he swoops in as kindly as he can, and reminds his mother that the cake won't be _nearly_ soft enough if she doesn't take it out of the freezer exactly _right now_.

"Thanks," she says with a warm laugh. "Your mother suddenly likes me more than ever."

"I wonder why," he says with a little smile of his own. "Do you want to wash the sand off in the pool?"

She shakes her head. "I think I'm all watered-out for the day."

He nods in agreement. "Me too."

While his mother bustles in the kitchen, and Itachi tries his hardest to focus on the grill (he'll have to thank his brother for that, later), Sasuke finally finds a moment alone with Sakura. Naruto is splashing too loudly for anybody to hear what they're talking about, not that he has much to say. His mother was just exactly right; he wants to spend today with his soulmate. Even if they don't talk much, even if she's thirteen, it's soothing just to have her near.

"Thanks for coming," he says, again.

"Thanks for having me," she replies, again. "I know it's kind of lame to be hanging out with your best friend's little sister—"

"Sakura," he stops her, and puts his hands gently on her shoulders. It makes her jump, but he knows it isn't because it shocked her. He knows it's because it _tingles_. Touching Sakura makes his fingers nearly spark. He wonders if this will ever get easier. "You're not just my best friend's little sister."

She swallows. "You're only saying that because you're my soulmate."

"Well," he can't exactly argue with that, "I guess I am, but that doesn't mean it isn't _true."_ He drops his hands from her shoulders with a tiny smile. "I don't want you to feel like a third wheel."

"I don't," she lies, too quickly. She doesn't have to, though; Sasuke already knows she does. She feels second to Naruto, she feels like a child, she feels like a forced invite. And perhaps, right now, she is some of those things.

He knows, though, that one day, it will be Naruto that's the third wheel. She won't be second to Naruto much longer; she barely feels like that now. Sasuke isn't sure how his protectiveness for her happened so quickly, but he realizes in that moment that he's sure it wasn't instantaneous at all. He knows it's been building up, boiling until it erupted like a volcano on her birthday only three months ago. He's been safeguarding her since she wobbled into his life ten years ago. He might not love her just yet in the way he will one day, but he's already protecting her the way he will for the rest of his life.

"You aren't," he assures her. "I'm glad you're here. I don't want another birthday without you."

He can't see her blushing, her cheeks are just too hot and flushed, but he can feel it. "I don't want one without you, either," she replies.

"Then there won't be," he agrees.

At that, Sakura begins sifting through her bag. "I got you something," she says, before correcting herself, "Well, I made you something."

"Sakura, you didn't have to," he insists, but Sakura is already shoving a thick, blue lanyard into his hands. "A bracelet?" he asks.

"For your left hand," she explains. "I'll tie it for you," she insists, and takes his arm without even waiting for a reply, and if she notices the tingle, she doesn't say anything. She wraps the thick bracelet around his scar and ties it tight. "You have to wait for it to fall off."

He raises his eyebrow with a small smile. "And what happens when it falls off?"

She shrugs. "It's supposed to be good luck, but you can't force it!"

"I won't," he swears. He fiddles with the bracelet, thin blue yarn weaves with green, and Sasuke realizes it's their favorite colors. "I love it."

"I'm glad." She smiles triumphantly. She's perfectly innocent and Sasuke decides he'll protect that, too.


	3. fourteen twenty-one

**TiMER**

theeflowerchild

ƒchapter 3

* * *

The sweltering heat persists to the second week of September. The back of Sakura's thighs stick to her seat; she has to peel them off discreetly with a sickening tear to get to her next class. She brushes her skirt down with sweaty hands, and pulls her carefully curled hair into a ponytail by the beginning of third period. She uses her backpack to hide her sweaty back.

Her first day of high school is sticky, and calescent. She looks outside the classroom window with her chin in the palm of her hand and prays for rain with the best of them; anything to break the lingering, sweaty grasp that this oppressive summer has well into what should be the beginning of a balmy fall.

Sakura keeps her left hand deep inside the pocket of her denim skirt. Every student in all of her classes so far has a timer stapled to their wrist, counting down a time she won't dare ask about. Even her first period teacher still has her timer, and Sakura notices with a frown that it's all zeros.

She knows there will be questions she won't care to answer when people see the damning scar on her wrist. It's not impossible for somebody her age to have found their soulmate, but it is uncommon. Especially given the circumstances of Sasuke's age; another thing she doesn't care to explain. There are so many things Sakura would rather not talk about, all related to the score on her wrist.

By fifth period lunch, somebody notices when she reaches for an apple on the lunch line. "Wow," the girl whispers, and she must be a senior, so much older and more mature looking than Sakura. She's curvy, and has wild red hair, and breasts Sakura could only dream of. She wonders if Sasuke would like somebody more developed like this upperclassmen. Then she frowns, and realizes that even a pretty senior isn't old enough for Sasuke. "You have a soulmate?"

Sakura blushes, hot, and nods.

"That's awesome." She grins, and shoves her hand in Sakura's face. "I'm Karin."

She takes it. "Sakura."

Karin follows her to her table with a million questions, and she minds less than she thought, because Karin has a pretty scar, too. It's shaped like a half moon, right where Sakura's is, a soft, risen white against tan skin. Sakura hopes hers will heal as daintily as Karin's.

She tells Sakura that her soulmate is a junior at an all boy's school two states away, and that they met at a concert when she was fifteen. Karin is seventeen now, and she is maybe one of the most beautiful girls that she has ever seen. Her eyes shine when she talks about _her_ Suigetsu: how handsome, and goofy, and untamed he is, how he can make her laugh even when she thinks she'll never smile again. How they'll get married when he graduates and she already knows she wants pink flowers.

Finally, Karin leans in and says, "Tell me about yours."

Sakura purses her lips. "I don't know what to say."

"Well, what's his name?" she asks.

"Sasuke," she says. "He's my brother's best friend."

Karin raises an eyebrow, her thick, black glasses sliding down her pointy nose, and then snorts. "Small world! Does your brother go to school here, too?"

"No." She shakes her head, ponytail swaying and tickling her feverish neck. "He's in college."

"Oh, so, your soulmate, then…" Karin nods her head. "Gotcha. That's tough."

Sakura nods again. "Yeah."

"My parents are ten years apart," she offers. "Their alarms went off when my mom was twenty, so she didn't have to wait… but still."

Sakura's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Really." Karin takes a long sip of her lemonade. "They never seemed to have any issues."

She smiles, then, with just enough teeth that Karin returns it with another laugh. "I like you, Sakura," she says. "Even if you're a freshman."

Sakura rolls her eyes, but decides she likes Karin, too, and forks over her number when she asks.

* * *

By the time Sakura gets home, she's ready to resign herself to her airconditioned room to memorize her syllabi and get a headstart on her reading. Instead, she ends up in her den watching her brother and her soulmate nearly topple over each other trying to get to the finish line of some racing game she's never cared about. Naruto pushes Sasuke, and Sasuke kicks Naruto in the stomach, and Naruto pulls Sasuke's hair, and so on, and so forth. She watches in amusement as her brother wins by a hair, pumping his fists into the air as Sasuke falls flat on his back, sighing as dramatically as she's sure he can.

He sits up rather quickly when he realizes she's in the room. "Oh, Sakura, hey, welcome home."

She smiles. "Hey guys."

"How was your first day of hell?" Naruto asks with a cheeky grin, and Sasuke shoves him, again.

She shrugs. "It wasn't that bad, actually."

"I'm glad," Sasuke says, and his mouth twists into a tiny smile that she's never seen him give anybody else. It's so perfect; no teeth, just his pretty, soft lips and shiny eyes as he stares right at her. It makes her knees shake, just a little. "Good classes?"

"Yeah, I guess." She fiddles with the strap of her backpack over one shoulder, and takes a few steps towards them. "I was hoping to start some of the reading."

"Right." He nods. "If you need any help, let me know."

Naruto sighs loudly next to him and begins complaining, only to receive an elbow to the gut that leaves him howling, blue eyes fiery and a grimace on his face that could scare their own towering father. Sasuke pays him no mind.

"Thanks, I might take you up on that." She sways on the tips of her toes, and hopes she has no sweat on her shirt when she turns around. "Anyway, I'm gonna head up, you guys can go back to doing… whatever that was."

* * *

Sasuke stays for dinner, again, ignoring Naruto when he flicks a grain or two of rice at him as he tries to ask Sakura about her first day of high school. She knows why her brother is jealous, but she can't seem to feel that bad when Sasuke gives her his undivided attention, eyes dark and curious and watching her intently.

Maybe she felt bad in the beginning. Watching his attention shift from Naruto to her was obvious and even a little embarrassing. Feeling included has been exciting; getting to do things Naruto had to wait much longer to do is as exhilarating as it is hilarious when her brother's response is a kind of exasperation only a little sister can enjoy. If Sasuke notices, he doesn't even pretend to care. He includes Sakura in hikes, and movies, and car rides, and hockey tournaments without a second thought. Without _consulting _with her brother, first.

This will continue to be confusing and she has no doubts about that, but in the meantime it's nice, to feel wanted.

"It'll get easier," he promises, eventually, after they've cleaned up the table and Naruto has disappeared somewhere to play some video game and decidedly _ignore them. _"Trigonometry isn't that bad, and principle Sarutobi might be old, but he's not strict."

"God, he's old," Sakura agrees, and Sasuke chuckles, a nice and warm laugh that makes her heart race. He doesn't laugh often, but he laughs for her.

They sit in silence for a long moment, and Sasuke stares at her from across the kitchen table. She bites her lip, and finally asks, "what do you say?"

His brow furrows. "What?"

"When they ask about me," she adds. "What do you say?"

"I don't know what you mean," he says. He shakes his head. "I tell them I have a soulmate."

"But…" she trails off, and suddenly her hands in her lap are more fascinating than anything else could ever be. "I'm fourteen. That's awkward. What do you say?"

She's met with silence. She picks her tiny nails, and her mother would be snapping at her right now, telling her how unhygienic it is and how she'd let her get her nails done if she didn't eat them within the week. Instead, she fiddles with her hair, slightly matted from the heat, curls lost to a ponytail. When she thinks he's not going to respond, she looks up, but he just looks confused.

His dark eyebrows are knitted together, brown eyes concerned and conflicted. His answer surprises her. "I'm not embarrassed by you, Sakura."

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"If that's what you're asking," he adds. "You don't embarrass me. You're my soulmate. Nothing else matters."

Her lower lip trembles, just a little. "Oh."

Suddenly he's sighing, and rounding the table to put his arm around her. "Please don't cry. Did I say something wrong? Don't cry, Sakura, please—"

"No, no, I'm not, it's fine," she brushes the tears out of her eyes, "it's not bad crying, I just, I don't know—"

"Relax," he says, and he presses her hair down with his large hand. "Did somebody say something about it today?"

She nods her head, and when he begins to look angry, she quickly tells him, "nothing bad! I met another girl. With a soulmate. An older girl. She felt bad."

"I don't," he says.

"You don't?"

He snorts. "No. You're my soulmate. I'm proud of that. We can just… deal with everything else."

"You always say that." She laughs. "I don't want to be a burden."

He snorts. "You're so annoying." He ruffles her hair, then, and Sakura immediately knows he meant it in the most affectionate way. "You aren't a burden."

"I don't want to be," she says, and sniffles. He brushes a stray tear off her cheek. "This is so hard."

He shakes his head. "I know, but it will get easier. If you feel more comfortable lying—"

"I'm not embarrassed by you, either!" she shouts, interrupting him, and suddenly he's smiling, that smile for her, no teeth and nearly too sweet. "I'm proud of you, too, Sasuke. I don't want to lie."

"Then don't." He stands, and pats down his jeans. "We are certainly not the first couple to be in a situation like this, and won't be the last."

Sakura feels a hot blush creep up her cheeks. "Couple?"

Sasuke shakes his head, and he might be just as pink as her hair. "That—that's not what I meant, Sakura."

She frowns, cheeks still warm. "Oh."

"Not yet," he corrects, with a tiny smile. He looks too pretty, flushed and all. Sasuke is so handsome, she can't help but think, with high cheekbones and dark hair, a thin nose and soft lips. She knows she'll get to kiss them one day. He reminds her when he says things like this. "You can always talk to me about these things."

"You too," she says, though she's not sure how much she offers as a fourteen-year-old that's barely ever had a crush. She sighs softly, prettily. "I care about you."

His lips quirk into a tiny smirk. "I care about you, Sakura. You are… very precious to me."

She wonders if she'll ever be able to say such things without blushing like he does.

"Thank you," she says, softly, reaching to squeeze his hand. He squeezes back. "I should go finish my reading."

He sighs. "And I should find your dumb brother."

Sakura giggles. "He's just jealous you're not _his _soulmate."

"Sometimes I really believe that," he mumbles, and smiles softly. "Everything will be okay. I promise."

She nods her head and smiles back. "I believe you."

The next day at school, Sakura wears a pretty sundress, with no pockets at all.


	4. fourteen twenty-one part two

**TiMER**

theeflowerchild

chapter 4

* * *

Karin is four years older than Sakura, but sometimes it feels like it might as well be a lifetime.

She's a kind of pretty Sakura just isn't yet. Her professionally dyed, fire-engine red hair is flawless and beautifully blown out. She wears daringly short skirts and has breasts Sakura only dreams about; Sakura is still an A-cup, and she feels like she'll always be one. Karin is curvy and petite where Sakura is slim and tall. Karin has a jaw that can cut diamonds; Sakura has baby fat.

Still, it's Karin that swoons over her. "You're just _so_ cute," she gushes, leaning against the locker next to her's.

Sakura blushes. "Thank you."

"To be fourteen again," she whines, twirling her hair around a perfectly manicured finger. "I wish I still had your legs."

Sakura snorts. "I wish I had yours."

"Enjoy the skinny," Karin teases. "You still don't have to worry about your ass when you buy jeans."

"Let's trade," she bites, slamming her locker shut. They both begin their slow menader towards their classes. "Can you do my makeup?"

Karin shrugs. "Your skin is _flawless, _but sure."

Sakura wants to roll her eyes, and press down on the painful pimple she feels forming on her forehead. "Thanks."

"Have you thought about cutting your hair?" she asks, and starts running her hands through Sakura's long, pink hair. "You'd look cute with a bob."

"I love my hair," she admits, biting her bottom lip.

"Might make you look a little older." Karin winks, her pretty pink lips curling into a charming smile.

Sakura's eyes twinkle. "You think?"

"Sure," she says. "I could do it for you."

"I don't know…" she trails off. "Have you ever cut someone's hair?"

"I cut my own," she says, and flips her chest length hair over her shoulder. "Well, Ino helps."

Sakura nods. "Can she help me?"

"Of course!" Karin cheers. "Ino would _love _you."

Ino, beautiful and blonde; if the puberty train hasn't even made a stop at Sakura, it ran down Ino years ago. She's curvy, all sleek ponytails and immaculate, skin-tight dresses. Sakura is embarrassed when she wears her heel boots in the hallways, like she's playing dress up; Ino wears stilettos without a blush.

When Sakura grows up, she wants to be them.

"Does Ino have her TiMER?"

"What?" Karin, distracted by her phone, raises an eyebrow.

"Does Ino have a soulmate?" she asks again.

"Oh, no," she says, and then grins when her phone goes off. "Ino says she'll do it! You'll come over tonight? Do your parents care if I drive?"

Sakura shrugs. "I don't think so. I'll text them."

"I'm so excited!" she squeals, and wraps Sakura in a hug. "You're gonna look so cool!"

They're interrupted by the warning bell.

"God, if I'm late to chem again, Mr. Sarutobi will kill me," she grumbles. "I'll meet you at your locker after ninth?"

Sakura grins. "Sounds good. Can't wait."

She gets to her math class right on time, with an uneasy smile and her fingers twitching to braid her hair.

* * *

"Oh god, she's _adorable,"_ Ino raves to Karin, fingers in Sakura's hair. "Your hair is like, basically, pink. I'm _obsessed. _How old are you?"

"Fourteen," she supplies, embarrassed.

"I wish _I _was this cute when I was fourteen." She pulls Sakura's hair into a low ponytail, and Sakura gets a clear view of her TiMER: two years, three days, six hours, five minutes and four, three, two... "Thank you for letting me do this. Karin would _never _let me cut her hair this short."

"I let you give me layers," she reminds her.

"You love them," Ino says. She has scissors like Sakura has seen at a hairdresser, and she's snipping them expectantly. "Shoulder length?"

Sakura shrugs. She says, "whatever," trying not to seem as nervous as she actually is.

"Here goes nothing!" Ino cheers, and Sakura winces, eyes closed, and then suddenly there's a foot of hair on the floor.

Pink hair.

_Her_ hair.

Ino squeals, pulling out the hair tie that kept her hair back and even. "It already looks amazing! I'm so excited!" she squeals, and then she's at work, snipping tiny hairs and making her hair all one length, and choppy, and with a fashionable messiness that Sakura didn't realize she could achieve.

All said and done, Sakura kind of loves it. It's different. It makes her chin look a little pointier, it shows her jaw a little more, it makes her neck look a little longer, and she looks a little older. And she loves _that_ more than anything.

"Do you think…" she trails off, finally, playing with the blunt edges. "Do you think Sasuke will notice?"

"How can he _miss_ it?" Karin asks. "You look _hot!"_

Ino, hands on her hips, proudly agrees with a nod, ponytail swinging. "It's awesome, if I do say so myself."

"Thank you, Ino," she whispers. She stands up and pink hair falls out of her lap. She brings the older girl into a hug that she returns readily. "You're amazing."

"Karin needs to bring you around more," she says, squeezing her. "You're like, literally, the cutest."

Sakura doesn't know how she ends up gossiping with two of the most beautiful, hilarious, strongest girls she's ever met, but Karin doesn't drive her home for another two hours. Her brother's ugly car is in the driveway, and so is Sasuke's brand new, typically black lease and suddenly, she's more nervous than she thought she could be.

Karin releases her with a hug and a wave. "Go get 'em, girl!"

Sakura blushes hot. "I'll see you later."

"Text me!" she sings, and speeds off, windows down and Top 40's blaring.

Sakura makes her way to the door slowly, fiddling with her backpack. Her mom had been excited over the phone about her hair change, but the boys have no idea. They're likely sitting right there in the living room, unable to miss her, fighting over a controller or falling asleep on top of their political science textbooks. Sakura has the stealth of an elephant and there's no avoiding Sasuke and her rash decision.

She unlocks her front door and already hears them bickering. She sees the stairs like a beacon of freedom, but she can't get to them without passing the damn living room. Dejectedly, she drops her backpack and succumbs to her fate.

"Yo, Sakura!" Naruto calls. "Come here, tell me which one of us is…" Naruto trails off, shock passing over his face when she enters.

Sakura carefully twirls her hair around her fingers, nails stubby and bitten. "Which one of you is what?"

Sasuke looks up to greet Sakura, only to freeze as well. She thinks she even sees his cheeks dust pink. "Woah."

"Your hair looks cool, Sakura!" Naruto cheers, grinning, always the supportive brother. "Mom said something about it, but you look more awesome than I thought!"

"Thanks, Naruto." She smiles. Sasuke still hasn't said anything. She waits for a moment, and he still doesn't say anything. She takes a step backward, heart clenching when he looks down at his feet.

He hates it. She just knows it.

"Anyway, uh, what were you gonna ask?" she whispers, trying to stop her voice from cracking. She feels her lower lip tremble, so she bites it, hard.

"Oh, which one of us is taller?" Naruto's grin turns sheepish, hand scratching the back of his head, like he always does when he's feeling particularly awkward.

Sakura rolls her eyes and snorts. "Sasuke, obviously," she says, and while Naruto is whining, Sasuke is just… staring at her. And saying nothing.

She stares right back, and when he _still_ says nothing, she allows herself to frown. "I'm gonna go up and start my homework," she whispers. "I'll see you guys later."

She runs up the stairs, without her backpack, and hears her brother call her soulmate a stupid idiot. She can't bring herself to disagree.

* * *

Sakura has her music on so loud and the song she chooses is so angry that she barely hears the knock at the door. When she throws open the bedroom door, Sasuke is standing there, hands deep in his pockets, a frown on his face and a fresh blush on his cheeks. Even uncomfortable he looks handsome and it makes Sakura's stomach twist.

"I'm sorry," he says, when Sakura realizes she's just been staring at him since she opened the door. "I like your hair."

She frowns. "You don't have to—"

"But I do!" he argues, and then he sighs. "I mean it. I'm just… bad at this. I'm sorry."

Her eyebrows furrow. "Bad at what?"

"At," and then he points between the both of them, for an effect Sakura still doesn't quite understand, "this."

"At… talking to people?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

It makes him frown so quickly that she almost laughs at how offended he looks. Still, he admits, "I guess so."

"I…" she trails off, and then her cheeks get very hot. "I thought it'd make me look older."

His eyebrows knit in confusion. "Why do you want to look older?"

Sakura is torn between a look of incredulousness and embarrassment. "Well, I mean, because—"

He interrupts her with a soft, "oh," and then, before she can say anything else, he's hugging her.

Sasuke smells amazing. He smells like a man; he smells clean and his chest is hard, and he's very warm. She inhales deeply, and before she can be awkward, she lets herself enjoy the embrace of her soulmate.

"Sakura," he finally says. "Please don't rush this. We have our entire lifetimes. I don't want you to be older. I want you to be a kid."

"W-What?" she stammers. She takes a staggering step away from him, pushing out of his arms. "You don't… want me?"

He's shaking his head as fast as he can. "No, that's not—that is _not _what I meant! See? I'm not good at this! I just mean, I mean, there's no _rush_ to grow up. Please don't rush yourself for me. I want you to enjoy everything like you're supposed to," he says. "You deserve it. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I wish you weren't exactly as you are."

Her look of hurt morphs into something soft. She closes the space between them again, and squeezes one of his hands. "I don't want you to think I'm a baby."

"I don't," he assures her. "But I do think you're a teenager, and you should enjoy that. I got to. Just because your soulmate is old—"

She's frowning again. "You're not _that _much older than me."

"You're right," he concedes, if only a little. "I still want you to be happy. And I love your hair." He tugs it gently, and it makes her blush. "But not because it makes you look older. You look beautiful."

"You think so?" she asks quietly.

"You're beautiful, Sakura," he reminds her, but then he ruffles her hair and Sakura swats him away. "Promise me you won't rush this."

She frowns, and grumbles, and he takes that as much of a promise he'll ever get from her. Then, she's pushing him out of her room and telling him to go fight her brother, or _whatever it is they do. _She gently shuts the door behind him and changes the music to a song she can dance to.

She swears she hears Sasuke laughing before she hears him descend the stairs back to Naruto.


	5. fourteen twenty-one part three

**TiMER**

theeflowerchild

chapter 5

* * *

Sasuke rolls out of bed the day after Thanksgiving with a start. He stretches, and yawns; he groans, and wiggles his toes on the cold, hardwood floor. He hears his mother giggling downstairs, talking to his father about something frivolous, he's sure. His mother is the type of woman who likes to keep silences filled. His father is the type of man who likes to keep silences just that. He takes after his father.

Without sparing his bed head a glance in the mirror—it's not like he has to go anywhere today, _anyway—_he makes his way down the stairs to greet his parents. He raises a brow at the garland already delicately wrapping the banister, a pretty gold that will be twisted with Christmas lights soon, if his mother has anything to say about it. He smells cinnamon and potpourri before he steps into the living room.

"Mom," he greets her. His father's hand is massaging his temple, an exasperated look on his face while he sits on the floor. His mother is grinning from ear to ear, on the tips of her toes hanging garland from the fireplace. It nearly makes him smile. "Dad."

"Sasuke!" she cheers, ignoring her work for a moment to greet her son with an excited hug. "It's Christmas!"

"Not quite," he says, but he pats her back, anyway. "Do you need help?"

She feigns a gasp. "_My_ son wants to help with Christmas decorations? Are pigs flying, too?"

"I always help," he grumbles, and takes the garland right out of her hands. He begins stringing it across the mantle. "Is Itachi coming?"

"Of course!" She begins fishing in the boxes on the floor, the ones his father must have gotten from the attic while Sasuke was still asleep. His father is detangling lights on the floor, mumbling something under his breath that Sasuke is sure isn't in the Christmas spirit. "And I was thinking we could invite somebody else…"

He grimaces. "Who?"

"Our Sakura, of course!" she states the obvious. Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Can you call her? I'd love for her to help decorate the tree."

"She might be busy," he says.

"I doubt she's too busy for her soulmate," she muses. "And for sugar cookies!"

"Right," he sighs. He takes a moment to run his hand through his knotted hair and realizes he'll have to shower, after all. "It's still early."

"It's never too early for Christmas," she chirps.

"Tell that to Dad," he says, nodding toward his father who's started on an entirely new string of lights, having given up on the prior once he plugged them in and only half turned on. Sasuke thinks he hears a profanity that his mother swings a hand at.

"Call her," she says, final. "And Naruto, too, if you want."

He perks up at that, and says, "fine." Two hours and a long shower later, Naruto and Sakura are ringing his doorbell, one with a shit-eating grin on his face, and the other twirling her newly short hair in her fingers.

"Good morning, Sasuke," she says with a cheery smile.

"What's up, bastard!?" Naruto jibes. "Merry Christmas?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes, stepping aside to let them in. "Whatever."

His mother puts them to work before they even have a chance to take their shoes off. She hands Naruto lights to string on the banister, and Sakura more garland to hang around the beams. Sakura happily takes on whatever role his mother assigns to her. He can feel the excitement in the room, and it takes him a moment to realize that excitement is Sakura.

It takes him by surprise, the warm feeling in his chest. It starts as a little tickle, but in a moment swells into something sweeter, and more addictive, cloying. He stops stringing garland for a moment to watch Sakura; she's twirling around the beams in his living room, laughing with his mother, dancing to an old Christmas song everybody knows the words to. Her pretty pink hair is in her face and her smile is beaming and charming and kind. He's never had this feeling before. It's something so much more than empathy that he can barely focus.

He only realizes he's staring when Sakura does. Her cheeks, already rosy from laughing, and dancing, heat with an adorable blush. She smiles, just for him, and Sasuke has to look away. This feeling, he doesn't know if it gets easier, but he can't take it: this heat, this softness, this unadulterated fondness he finds himself having for her, probably always had for her. He knows feelings for soulmates are always strong, but his feelings for her feel painfully intense. He continues to find himself feeling more and more for her.

The more time passes, the more he doesn't want to be apart from her. It's a feeling he barely understands himself, so he can't imagine how it must make her feel. He's not even sure what to name this feeling, even though there's a four-letter-word on the tip of his tongue he can't yet form.

It's not attraction, while he finds Sakura to be quite adorable. Sakura is pretty, and pretty young. Sasuke doesn't find himself dreaming about her in that way just yet, even if hearing that might hurt her. She's fourteen and he's twenty-one; they have a long way to go before Sasuke would even consider thinking of her in that way—even though he doesn't think of other people in that way, either. He doesn't dwell on what that means for them, yet.

"Sakura, dear, help me make cookies!" His mother beams.

Sakura's soft laugh makes Sasuke melt. "That sounds like fun!"

When he's sure she's not looking, he peaks again. Her eyes twinkle like Christmas lights, and her smile is electrifying and precious. Just to see her like this is enough to make him glad he invited her.

Sakura makes perfect cookies, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. They all devour them while they put the tree together, post by post. His father does the lights and grins proudly when his hours of untangling makes the tree glow like a star. Itachi insists that Sasuke put the angel on top and Sakura squeals when it twinkles, too.

"It's perfect!" his mother cheers, and wraps her boys in a hug. "I couldn't have done it without you all."

When Itachi hugs her tighter, Sasuke gently removes himself from the embrace. He looks over at Sakura, distracted by the twinkling Christmas lights with a perfect, little smile on her face. Naruto seems deep in a conversation with his father about the perils of mold that grow in real Christmas trees. Moving toward her, he carefully wraps an arm around her shoulders, and says, "thanks for coming today."

She leans her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for inviting me. I love Christmas."

He chuckles. "I can tell."

"I had a lot of fun," she says.

Sasuke releases her gently, before anybody can see them, and ruin them. "Me too."

* * *

Wrapped in his heavy coat and a thick, crocheted scarf, Sasuke wanders through the mall kiosks with looks of confusion and concentration on his face. "What does Sakura even _like?"_

Naruto shrugs. "How am I supposed to know? She's _your_ soulmate."

Sasuke scoffs. "She's _your_ sister!"

He sighs, rolling his amused, blue eyes. "Her favorite color is blue, she likes to read, she doesn't wear makeup, she likes to bake, and she hates celery."

"That narrows it down," he grumbles. He stares at a blue, glittery phone case at a kiosk before passing on with a huff. "What about a calendar? Does she like… calendars?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention, she _hates_ months," Naruto jabs with a snicker. "What the hell do you mean, does she like calendars? Who cares?"

Sasuke wants to yell, and rip his hair out, but he settles for a thoroughly annoyed groan. "Why is this so _hard?"_

"Get her more books," he offers.

"I always get her books," he counters.

"She _likes_ books." Naruto runs a gloved hand through his messy, blonde hair. "She'll like whatever you get her. She just got her ears pierced, what about earrings?"

Sasuke remembers quite well that she just got her ears pierced, because she came home whining about the pain, Karin and Ino flanking her and laughing. Sasuke knew it didn't hurt that badly, but he also felt that she was immensely upset. He wanted to hug her more than anything, but Karin already had that under control. He thinks Sakura wanted him to hug her, too.

"That's actually not a bad idea, moron." Naruto trails after him leisurely toward a jewelry kiosk, twinkling with stones and silver; large discount signs blaring with sales. Sasuke calls over an older man that isn't busy with a customer. "Can you help me?"

"Of course," he says with a friendly smile. "What are you looking for?"

Sasuke stares longingly at Naruto, who rolls his eyes and answers, "Something for my fourteen-year-old sister. She just got her ears pierced."

"What does she like?" he asks, and begins walking them around the kiosk toward the earrings.

"Her favorite color is blue," Sasuke offers.

"She likes flowers," Naruto adds.

Sasuke frowns. "You didn't tell me that."

"Every girl likes flowers," he simply replies, and Sasuke can't argue with that.

"Nothing hanging since she's newly pierced," the man tells them. He opens up a locked case and pulls out a dainty pair of floral earrings. "It's aquamarine, and white gold."

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asks.

The man laughs amiably. "It means she'll like them, and her ears won't turn green."

"Right," Sasuke replies, unsure why he'd ever need to worry about Sakura's ears turning a different color. "What do you think?"

"I think she'll like them," Naruto says with a grin. "Especially if you give them to her."

Sasuke nods his head, and asks, with a sigh, "do you gift wrap?"

* * *

Sasuke rolls out of bed on Christmas morning with a small smile on his face. His clock reads seven AM in bright, red font. There's something about Christmas morning that wakes you with warm happiness, that presses you to start earlier than you normally would; a biological clock that reminds you that you're ready to spend time with your family, smell cinnamon pine cones, open gifts and eat your mother's fluffy pancakes.

He already hears his mother humming downstairs, likely plying his father with coffee and sweet smiles. He smells pancake batter sizzling on the skillet, his mom's hot cocoa boiling on the stove. He makes a show of walking down the stairs so he doesn't have to walk in on his parents doing anything he'd specifically not like to see.

"Sasuke!" his mother cheers, wrapping him in a hug as soon as he enters the kitchen. He rubs her back fondly. "Merry Christmas, my love!"

"Merry Christmas mom, dad," he says. His father grunts, but he smiles. "Everything smells good."

"All for you, sweetie!" she claims sweetly. "Itachi is on his way!"

When his brother finally arrives, they all sit to breakfast with gusto. Sasuke eats far too many pancakes and when he's sated, and near bursting, he finishes his hot chocolate with a small smile. Itachi manages to finish off even more than him.

"You're amazing," Itachi quips, patting his mother's head.

"Oh, Itachi!" she gushes, and hugs his waist. "Anything for my boys."

With hugs all around, his mother drags them to the tree for gifts. She gets them clothes, and all matching pajamas she _insists_ they'll wear to bed, and she gives Itachi a new blender for his apartment, and Sasuke new luggage. His mother gives perfectly sensible gifts, and he loves her for it.

When all the excitement has worn off, and Itachi is done talking about the kinds of soups and smoothies he'll be making in his new edition, his mother's smile turns sly. "So when is our Sakura coming over?"

He rolls his eyes. "I think I'll go there."

"But Sasuke!" she whines. "I want to see my girl!"

"She's no one's girl," he grumbles, maybe a little too sharply, and his mother laughs.

"But I have a gift for her!"

He groans. "Maybe I'll bring her back here."

"Please do," Itachi agrees. "I'd like to see our Sakura."

Sasuke shoots him a glare that only makes Itachi grin. "Can we stop with the our? And the my?"

"Fine, fine," his mother agrees, and then adds with a mischievous little grin, "_yours."_

* * *

Jiraiya greets Sasuke with a firm handshake and a grimace. Sasuke is very aware that over the past few months Sakura's father has not taken well to him as her soulmate. The exact opposite, in fact. Sasuke is fairly certain he's heard the older man growl when he's done something as innocent as ask Sakura about her day.

"Merry Christmas, sir," he says.

Jiraiya grumbles something under his breath and lets Sasuke in, trailing behind him to hang up his coat in the closet and kick off his shoes. Naruto rushes into the foyer with a grin. "Merry Christmas, bastard!"

Sasuke smirks. "Merry Christmas, moron."

"I have your gift for you right here," Naruto cheers, and flips him off with the _friendliest_ of middle fingers.

"Fuck off." He rolls his eyes. He claps Naruto on the back a little harder than necessary, causing the blonde to wince all too dramatically. "Where's Sakura?"

"Kitchen with mom," he says. "Excited to give her your little gift—"

"Quiet," he snaps with a frown. "It's not a gift if you ruin the surprise."

Naruto shrugs. "She'll be happy either way."

"Whatever," he brushes him off with a wave. "I have your gift, too, dumbass."

"Aww, you shouldn't have!"

"Here," he shoves an envelope in his hands, "what you always ask for."

Naruto wiggles his eyebrows, and opens up his giftcard with a yelp. "Fifty bucks to Ichiraku! Thanks, jerk!"

"No sweat, loser. Don't spend it all in one day," he reminds him with a smirk.

He grins. "I just might!"

Sakura interrupts them in a pretty red dress that should clash with her hair. Sasuke can immediately feel her excitement; it vibrates through him and settles deep in his chest. He holds back a small smile; he feels happy when she feels happy, her warmth is so palpable he feels nearly feverish. With the prettiest grin, she says, "Merry Christmas, Sasuke."

He does smile, small and friendly, just for her. "Merry Christmas, Sakura."

"I'll give you two losers a moment." Naruto backs off toward the kitchen with a wicked grin of his own. Sasuke shoots him a glare, and Sakura sighs loudly, but he's truthfully glad to have a moment alone with her.

He can feel that she is, too, with the kind smile on her face, and her little, twitchy fingers that thrum against her thigh in excitement. "I have something for you," she says.

"I have something for you, too," he counters. Quickly, he pushes the box into her hands.

She laughs. "I know you didn't wrap this."

"I plead the fifth." He raises his hands in defense. "Open it, please."

She does, excitedly and unabashedly. She holds the wrapping in one hand, and opens the box with her other with a delighted gasp. "They're so beautiful!"

He smiles, softly. "I'm glad you like them."

"I love them!" He watches her carefully touch them, eyes twinkling with joy. "I'd put them on now if I could!"

"Your brother helped," he admits.

She closes the box with one of the prettiest smiles he's ever seen. "I love them. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Can I hug you?" she asks, and she takes a step forward. "I'm going to hug you," she tells him, without waiting for his answer.

Sakura is much shorter than him, nearly two heads, but she still has time to grow. She always whines that she's the tallest in her class, but she wraps her arms around his waist perfectly. She's warm, and she smells like sugar cookies she was likely baking in the kitchen with her mother. She makes a pleased little sound when she squeezes him. How could he not hug her back?

He wraps his arms firmly around her shoulders and leans his chin on the top of her head. She's so small, and fits so perfectly in his arms. He knows she'll grow taller, and many other things, like curvier and firmer, but for now, she's perfect, soft and small, sweet and splendid.

"I'm glad you like them," he murmurs, and he realizes, when she begins to pull away, that he's not ready for the hug to end, so he hugs her a little tighter.

She squeaks, and it's adorable. She hugs him right back.

* * *

**Some of the best gifts I've ever gotten: a kitchenaid, a new blender, a $50 taco bell gift card, and luggage. Being an adult can be lit. Anyway, please stay safe in this trying time to you and all your friends and families. **


	6. fifteen twenty-two

Sasuke remembers meeting Sakura vividly. He wonders if remembering now is more important than it was before. He was ten and Naruto had come into school on a Monday insisting he'd be a big brother by Thursday, and Sasuke hadn't believed him. Everybody knew it took nine-months to make a baby, he had explained at the time. His best friend _is _a notable idiot. There was no way his mother, who wasn't pregnant, could make a baby in a few days!

By Friday, Naruto was begging Sasuke to come over and meet his little sister. Sasuke still didn't believe him. With his mother's permission, he rode the bus home with his best friend all the way to his house to meet this supposed baby sister.

And shockingly enough, there was a little girl in the living room with a beautiful head of pink hair and eyes miles wide and greener than grass. She was sitting on the floor, playing with a raggedy old doll. Sasuke had clicked his tongue. "Well, she isn't a _baby."_

"I said _little,"_ Naruto harrumphed in response.

"Boys," Tsunade had chastised.

Sasuke took a step towards Sakura to get a closer look. He'd never seen a baby with pink hair before. She had a bruise on her cheek and a bump the size of a golf ball on her forehead. She was painfully skinny, with sunken cheeks and tired eyes. She was the tiniest thing he had ever seen.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke had asked.

"Sakura will be okay," Tsunade had replied. "She was in a bad place, but she's here now, and we'll make her very happy."

"What about her eye?" Sasuke asked. He hadn't learned much about curiosity killing cats yet.

"It will heal, dear," Naruto's mom said.

"Does she talk?" Sasuke asked.

"She says a few words," she said.

Sasuke took another step toward Sakura. She looked up at him with shining eyes. She looked sick, and pale, but her smile was a knock-out, wide and toothy. She had buck teeth she'd grow out of and her tongue had turned red from the bottles of pedialyte he saw on the table. Sasuke introduced himself.

With a giggle, Sakura said, "hi!" and kept playing with her toy, a doll that still sits on her bed to this day.

"I guess you weren't lying," Sasuke had said to his best friend and then, to Naruto's mother because his own had raised him right, "congratulations."

"Thank you, Sasuke," she had said kindly. "Why don't you two go play?"

"Can we play with Sakura?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Tsunade smiles. "Of course you can."

It was boring, playing with Sakura. She was so little, and she didn't like when Naruto rough-housed. It ended with her sobbing, while Sasuke patted her back and Naruto looked deathly confused.

Sasuke remembers this day fondly, even twelve years later. He didn't know why it was important at the time to catalogue moments with Sakura like a scrapbook, but it rings clear now. Sakura had been the one even then.

"You're on another planet," Naruto snaps, pushing Sasuke out of his reverie. "What are you thinking about?"

Sasuke scoffs. "Your mother—"

"You're a bastard—"

"Maybe mind your business—"

A giggle interrupts them. "Always fighting," Sakura sings, and takes a seat on the couch next to them. "What game are you playing?"

"Don't you have hair to brush?" Naruto replied with a cheeky grin.

"Don't be a dick," Sasuke interrupted with a frown.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Mind your business."

"You could stand to be a little nicer."

"And _you _could be a little less _obvious_—"

"Enough," Sakura says, exasperated. "What's with all the hostility lately?"

"Ask your brother," Sasuke says with a sigh that only leaves Naruto nearly growling, but Naruto isn't being _fair_. Maybe Sasuke is acting a little different, but he can't _help_ it. He finds himself wanting to spend time with Sakura more and more, with or without Naruto. Naruto doesn't _understand. _He doesn't _have _a soulmate yet and he won't for another three years, two months, one week, five hours, ten minutes and forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven seconds…

Until then, Naruto doesn't get what it's like to have your entire world surround one person with or without your intentions in mind. Sasuke can admit that his life would be a lot easier if he wasn't _constantly _thinking of Sakura—if she's okay, if she's tired, if she's upset, if she's, hell, eaten or bathed or _anything. _He feels like her caretaker, not her _soulmate. _

Sasuke nearly sighs. He knows _that _will change.

"Whatever, I have homework to do," Sakura says, clearly trying to make an exit.

"Need help?" Sasuke asks, despite himself. He knows better. He knows he should dedicate a little more time to Naruto, who is single and bored, who doesn't think about any one person constantly, whose best friend is Sasuke and will be for another three years, two weeks, one month—and so on.

"Sure," Sakura says with a pretty smile that nearly leaves Sasuke winded. It isn't _Sakura's_ job to know better, to stop him from leaving his best friend. It's Sakura's job to enjoy time with her soulmate. How is it that Sakura manages her time better than him, and she's only fifteen? What's _he _doing wrong?

"Whatever," Naruto mumbles under his breath, starting another game. "Jerks."

Sasuke doesn't even bother with a response. He follows Sakura into the kitchen where she makes them lemon tea with honey, perfect for a cool winter day like today. She always makes his perfectly, not too sweet and boiling hot. He thanks her with a small smile.

"I'm stuck on this dumb math problem," she finally says, sitting down with her own mug.

"You've come to the right person," he says. "Let me see."

He goes over the problem with her and Sakura learns easily. One of his favorite things about Sakura is that she never asks questions twice. Her and her brother don't have that in common.

"Thanks," she says, when they finally finish her homework and sit comfortably, finishing what's left of their lukewarm tea. Sakura gets up and takes out a pack of biscuits from the pantry for them to share, sitting down next to him a little closer.

It's been two-years since Sasuke had his TiMER removed—nearly three. He sports a handsome scar where it used to be, a crescent moon that matches Sakura's almost perfectly. Sometimes he looks at his scar at night and thinks about how long he waited, waiting for Sakura who was right there in front of him. Now she's sitting next to him, plying him with cookies and smiling at him behind her long bangs, her hair a perfect crop at her shoulders.

He swallows.

Sakura becomes more beautiful every day. She's coming more into her features, her high cheekbones and her pointy chin, her wide eyes and plush lips. Soon she'll be sixteen, and then she'll be eighteen, and then they'll be adults, and then what?

When Sasuke finishes his tea, Sakura begins cleaning up after themselves. He hears her holler something at Naruto, likely about feeding him, before she sits down next to him with a sigh. "You should go hang with Naruto," she says.

He rolls his eyes. "Your brother isn't being very nice," he admits.

She shrugs. "He's just jealous."

"It's been years," Sasuke argues.

"It was less of a problem when I was thirteen," she says, like she's admitting something for the both of them.

"By that logic, it will always just be _more_ of a problem."

"Maybe it will be," she says with a sigh. "I don't want to ruin your friendship."

"You're not _ruining_ anything." He places a hand softly on her shoulder, and she leans into it maybe too easily. Physical touch—it's getting too easy, his hand on her shoulder, his arm around her, a friendly hug. They're all happening too quickly. He needs to watch himself. While there are _many _exceptions made for soulmate pairings with age differences, Sasuke still isn't interested in her in _that _way. It just—it feels good. It feels good to touch his soulmate, even in a friendly manner. And he knows Sakura likes it, too. She's perfectly soft and warm, and he wants to keep touching her kindly as long as she lets him.

When he looks at her, she's frowning, and he wants to wipe it right off her face. "Please fix things with Naruto."

"I want to."

"Don't let me get in between you guys, you've been friends since… before I was _born."_

That nearly makes Sasuke laugh. "I guess so."

"Go kiss and makeup," she says, sounding final. "For me?"

He rolls his eyes. "Well, _anything for you, _then—"

But he stops, mid sentence.

Because it's absolutely true.

_Anything for Sakura, _it is.

Her lips curl into a smile. "Thank you."

Sasuke leaves Sakura in the kitchen with her cookies and reading homework. Naruto is sitting on the couch deep into a game.

"Wanna go get a drink?" Sasuke asks, plopping down next to Naruto on the couch.

"What, your precious tea time wasn't enough?" Naruto snaps.

Sasuke frowns. "You know it's different."

Naruto pauses his game. "Do I?"

"She's my soulmate—"

"I'm your best friend," he counters with a frown. There's something always unsettling about a frown on Naruto's face. "I didn't realize getting a soulmate makes you forget about all your friends."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "That's not—"

"Fair, I know." He huffs. "None of this is fair. Why did it have to be her?"

"What does _that _mean?"

"Not like—ugh!" he groans, throwing his arm over his eyes in frustration. "I just mean, out of all the people to lose you to, it had to be my sister? So I have to _watch you _spend time with other people?"

"It's not like that."

"It _feels _like it, okay?" he says. "And I still have _years _before I meet my soulmate. Is this what it'll be like? We just won't see each other anymore?"

"I see you every day. We take graduate classes together. I kicked your ass in Mortal Combat until Sakura came home."

"Yeah, but, you never _left _me for Sakura…"

"You're so dramatic," Sasuke responds. "You make it sound like I'm cheating on you."

Naruto gags. "That's gross on so many levels. You better not be doing anything with my sister that is anywhere _near _the word cheating—"

"Dude," Sasuke cuts him off. "She's fifteen."

"Just _checking—"_

"No fuckin' way."

"Some people are grosser than you," he says. "What about Tenten, from high school? Her soulmate was like, _ten _years older than her, and she had a freaking baby our senior year—"

"Sakura will _not _be having a baby in high school—or college, or graduate school, for that matter, if I have anything to do with it."

Naruto snorts. "You're the only one that ever _will_ have anything to do with it."

Sasuke feels his heart tighten in his chest. Just the _idea _of another man—

He suppresses a shiver. This isn't something he'll ever have to worry about. It's taboo to sleep with a soulmated person anyway. Nobody gives you a second look if you've got a scar on your wrist where a TiMER should be.

"I just want…" Naruto trails off. "I just wish things hadn't changed."

"Too late for that."

He laughs. "I know, I know… I miss you, man."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Don't go all sentimental on me now."

"Shut up." He shoves him. "You have shit time management skills."

"Well you have shit video game skills."

Naruto grins. "Bet?"

Naruto loses, again. And they get that drink, and maybe Sasuke doesn't apologize, like he should, and maybe Naruto is more dramatic than the situation is worth, but he'll spend more time with Naruto, if that's what Sakura wants.

But it doesn't mean he won't think about her the whole time.

* * *

Sasuke doesn't know much about Sakura prior to her coming to Tsunade and Jiraiya's. He's not even sure Sakura knows much about Sakura prior to her coming to Tsunade and Jiraiya's—but he wonders. He wants to know why she came so bruised and battered. He wants to know why she was so frail and sickly.

He sits in her room, and looks at her stuffed doll on her bed. It's disgusting, to be honest, dirty and old with filthy, knotted hair and pink highlighter as blush on her cheeks. It doesn't exactly fit Sakura's aesthetic, this old and crusty doll that she must sleep with every night, he assumes. The rest of her room is floral and blue and her room is covered from wall to wall in posters and paintings. And then the doll.

Sakura sits at her desk, working through a math problem while Sasuke sits comfortably, sprawled out on the floor helping her. When she's quiet for a long moment, he decides to say, "I remember your doll."

"What?" she asks, looking up from her homework.

"The one on your bed. When I met you," he says. "You were playing with it."

"I don't remember, I was three," she jokes.

"You were sitting on the floor in the living room. I'd never seen anybody with pink hair."

She blushes. "I'm _basically _a ginger, Sasuke—"

"Why did you keep the doll?" he asks. He's still lying on the floor. They've never talked about anything so… maybe serious? He doesn't know how he should approach her, so he does the next best thing and doesn't.

"I've always had it," she says. "I think my birth parents gave it to me."

"Oh."

She taps her pencil on her notebook. "I guess I can't be too sure. My mom says that's where it's from. It's… I don't know."

"No, tell me," he insists, sitting up, making eye contact with her. Her eyes are a glossy green, misty with tears that have just as much a chance of falling as they don't.

She blinks them back. "It's the only thing I have from them."

"Do you know anything about them?"

"Not really…" she says. "They died when I was one in a car accident. I was moved from foster homes then until Mom and Dad adopted me."

"When I met you," he says, "you were covered in bruises."

"I've seen the photos," she whispers.

"I asked your mom if you were okay." He laughs, but it's a little wet. "She said you'd get better."

"I don't remember," she says. "If that's what you're asking."

He shakes his head. "I'm not asking anything. Just talking."

"Mom says I was removed from the home I was in before I came here," she explains. "Forcibly."

"I'm glad you came here," he admits with a small smile.

"Me too," she agrees, and returns the smile with a watery one of her own. She's holding back tears. "I'm… very lucky."

"You don't have to feel lucky," Sasuke explains. "Every kid deserves what you've had."

"But not every kid gets it," she says. "My parents, Naruto, they say the same thing, but I'm grateful."

"We're all grateful for you," he counters. His lips twitch into a small smile that's just for her, and that's when her bubble bursts. The tears start falling, wet and hot from her wide, green eyes. Sasuke leaps from his position on the floor and wraps his tiny soulmate in his arms. "Please, don't cry. I shouldn't have brought it up—I'm so sorry—"

"No, no, don't be," she says through tears, burrowing her face into his shoulder. "I'm grateful for you, Sasuke." Then she adds, "for all of you."

"I didn't believe Naruto when he told me he had a little sister," Sasuke admits. "I can't believe it sometimes, still."

Sakura pulls away abruptly. Her eyes are wet and her hair is messy. Her cheeks are streaked with tears and her lips are swollen from biting them. "Can I tell you something?" she asks.

"You can tell me anything—"

"I love you, Sasuke," and then she burrows herself back into his arms.

His hold weakens. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears. He feels like he is swimming, deep under water, the way the pressure of the world pushes down on him. He feels drunk, head fuzzy and knees weak.

Sakura has never said this before. He imagined she must feel… strongly for him. She's young and infatuated. She's made it abundantly clear that she's attracted to him, even in her young age. He's put enough space between them and made it very clear that nothing would happen, but it seems that wasn't enough to stop her from falling in love with him.

Maybe it was enough for him, either.

He squeezes her tighter. He doesn't say it back. They return to her homework quietly, and Sasuke finds himself back on the floor, sprawled out comfortably on the carpet. Sakura asks him another math question, and Sasuke answers confidently.

Sakura is in love with him—and Sasuke thinks he might just be, too.


End file.
